A Episode
Guide

Focusing on the differences between the American and Japanese episodes

Yami Yugi is running down the street, desperately searching for his
friends, when his way is blocked by a pair of Rare Hunters, who tell
him that if he wants to rescue his friends, he's got to duel them both.
(In the Japanese, they say if he refuses to duel with them, his friends
will be killed.) Then they fall about arguing over who's going to duel
Yugi first. Rock, Paper, Scissors gets them nowhere, as they each keep
choosing paper. Yugi's getting impatient, as they both change to rock,
still matching each other each time.

Yugi tells them to hurry up, but they say they'll duel him soon enough.
But only one of them can duel him at a time.

"Not if both of us duel against you," says Kaiba, who suddenly
walks up behind Yugi. The Rare Hunters accept his challenge. Kaiba says
they're fools if they think they can beat both his and Yugi's God cards.
As soon as these guys are out of the way, Kaiba insists he and Yugi
will duel. (Japanese Kaiba tells Yugi not to misunderstand—he's
holding the Battle City Tournament to vanquish the Rare Hunters, and
he can't let them do whatever they want. He's not there to help Yugi's
"nameless" friend. But, if Yugi wants to use his God card,
that's okay, he'll step aside. Yugi's response is to say: "Kaiba.")

They face off. The Rare Hunters tell Kaiba to go first, and Kaiba opens
by playing the magic card, Pot of Greed, which allows him to draw two
more cards. Then he summons Lord of Dragons, then plays two Flutes of
Summoning Dragon. The Rare Hunters don't know what Kaiba's up to, but
he explains that each Flute allows him to summon two dragons to the
field.

Kaiba then summons all three of his Blue-Eyes White Dragons, plus the
dragon Hyozanryu (Diamond Dragon).

Next, it's the short round Rare Hunter's turn. He plays one monster
in defense. Yugi plays two cards face down. Kaiba says if that's the
best Yugi can do, it will be easy to defeat him when they duel. Yugi
repeats that he has to make sure his friends are safe first, and finishes
his turn by playing Kuriboh in defense. (Japanese Kaiba tells Yugi to
stay out of it—he doesn't need Yugi's help. He wants to fight the
Rare Hunters on his own. Yugi says, okay, he'll watch, and then he plays
his Kuriboh.)

The short round Rare Hunter hopes his partner has a plan! The tall
skinny Rare Hunter says he does. He draws the trap card, Mirror Force,
which he sets face down, then he plays a monster face-down in defense.
(The Japanese Rare Hunter thinks that the Ghouls can copy any card,
as he sets his Mirror Force.)

Kaiba says if he's setting a trap, he's wasting his time. Yugi tries
to warn him that the Rare Hunters can be cunning, but Kaiba tells him
to relax, he's about to end this duel. (Japanese Kaiba once again tells
Yugi to mind his own business. Then he says, "I'll show you mine,"
meaning his God card.)

Kaiba sacrifices his three Blue-Eyes White Dragons to summon his God
card, Obelisk the Tormentor! The huge God monster looms over the street.
Then Kaiba sacrifices his two remaining monsters, Hyozanryu and Lord
of Dragons, to increase Obelisk's power. Poor little Kuriboh's eyes
whirl around at the sight of the enormous monster! With one mighty blow,
Obelisk destroys all of the Rare Hunters' defense monsters. (In the
Japanese, Kaiba says it's Obelisk's special effect that destroys all
his opponent's monsters.) Then, Kaiba orders Obelisk to attack and finish
them off!

The tall skinny Rare Hunter thinks he's got it covered. He activates
his trap card, Mirror Force. But the trap has no effect on Obelisk,
and the Rare Hunters are thrown to the ground by the power of Obelisk's
attack, defeated. Victory is ours, Kaiba says. (Japanese Kaiba exults,
"Did you see that, Yugi?")

Yugi thanks Kaiba for his assistance, then rushes to the short round
Rare Hunter, grabbing him by the coat, and demanding that he tell them
where his friends are. Kaiba, meanwhile, is more interested in the Rare
Hunters' locator cards. He tosses one of the locator cards to Yugi,
who starts to run off, when Kaiba tells him to wait. Yugi repeats that
he won't duel now! but Kaiba tells Mokuba, who's been trailing after
his big brother, to contact headquarters and ask them to use their satellite
system to track the location of that pathetic wannabe, Joey Wheeler.
Yugi thanks Kaiba, who says he'll help Yugi find his friends, then Yugi'd
better be ready to duel him!

The Rare Hunters watch Yugi, Kaiba, and Mokuba leave, saying that Master
Marik will get his wish—everyone he wants, all in one place. (The
Japanese Rare Hunters say, "It's Obelisk, the God card.")

Meanwhile, Mako Tsunami has just netted himself a huge catch of fish—from
an outdoor tank at an aquarium. Just as he's exulting over what a good
fisherman he is, he falls into the tank, and comes face to face with
a whale, which rises out of the tank with Mako perched on its open mouth!
An angry woman aquarium worker asks Mako what he thinks he's doing!
He tries to explain that he was just catching his lunch when this huge
beast attacked him, but she says this is an aquarium, and Mako's stealing
the whale's lunch! He apologizes, when the woman collapses with a fever.
He jumps out of the whale's mouth to catch her, and she explains that
she has to be in the Ocean World show. Mako tells her not to worry—he'll
take over for her, for he is one with the sea!

Elsewhere, Marik is still zooming along on his motorcycle, wearing
a belly-baring pink hoodie and lots of gold jewelry and looking very
pretty. He's thinking that soon he'll reach the center of the city and
the limitless power of the Pharaoh will be his, yadda yadda yadda. (Japanese
Malik thinks he'll have Yugi's Osiris and Kaiba's Obelisk back soon.)
Nearby, Dark Bakura's Millennium Ring goes all glowy from the presence
of the Millennium Rod, and Dark Bakura thinks he senses a familiar dark
presence—the same one that controlled Bandit Keith. He thinks he'll
add another Millennium Item to his collection. Soon he'll possess all
seven, yadda yadda yadda.

Just then, Joey and the others run up, asking Bakura if he's there
to check out the tournament action. Lite Bakura asks how things are
going, and Joey says he's got four locator cards already! Soon he and
Yugi will be facing each other in the finals, in the rematch of the
century! Well, he does need to crush a couple more duelists first. (Japanese
Jounouchi isn't so big-headed. He wonders if Yugi has entered the finals
already, and looks around for another suitable challenge.)

Téa notices a sign advertising that day's Ocean World show,
with a drawing of happy Mako snuggling with a whale.

Tristan says Mako should be dueling, not performing with Shamu! Joey
agrees, and runs off to find him to challenge him to a duel. The others
run after him, leaving Dark Bakura to chuckle evilly as they go.

(A shot of the aquarium entrance, with a big sign reading "Domino
Aquarium" is replaced in the US version with an overhead shot of
the aquarium.)

Joey and the others run into the Ocean World stadium, where they see
Mako riding on the back of the whale. Several Rare Hunters sit down
in the audience, as Mako performs some impressive tricks with the whale.
Joey calls out to him, and he comes swimming over to greet them, just
as the whale rises up out of the tank, with Mako standing tall on the
top of its head. Téa asks what he's doing performing at the aquarium—they
thought he'd be dueling. He is there to duel, he explains, but his kinship
with the sea was needed first. (Japanese Kajiki says he wanted a break,
so he's helping in the show.) Joey tells him to hop off Shamu and duel.
Mako is dismissive at first, displaying his four locator cards, and
Joey responds with his own four. Then Mako agrees to a duel, saying
they'll give the cheering fans a show to remember!

The kids in the crowd are delighted to see a Duel Monsters duel as
part of the show. Mako and Joey agree to bet two locator cards on the
duel—whoever wins will go to the finals. They face off on a concrete
island in the middle of the tank, while Téa, Tristan, and Grandpa
find seats in the stadium to watch. (Japanese Jounouchi thinks if he
wins this duel, he can keep his promise to Yugi.)

Joey draws with a flourish, pirouetting and hamming it up all over
the place, while his friends go all boggle-eyed. But when Joey looks
at his card, he sees that it's the Parasite Paracide card Weevil snuck
into his deck—he forgot to take it out. (In the Japanese, there's
a bit of a flashback where Jounouchi remembers the parasite leeching
on his Panther Warrior.) He tries to stay cool (in the Japanese, he's
reading the text on the card to try to figure out how it works), while
Mako tells him to hurry up and make his move. Rattled, he plays the
Parasite face-down, hoping he can use it against Mako.

Mako summons the "mighty" Flying Fish (it's only got an attack
of 800, Mako, it's hardly mighty), and attacks Joey's monster. Since
the Parasite's defense is only 300, it's destroyed before its effect
can be used. (In the Japanese, Kajiki tells Jounouchi the effect won't
work because he needs to sacrifce a monster in order to activate it.
The real Parasite Paracide is a Flip Effect—it would activate when
it's attacked in face-down defense position, even if it's destroyed.
It goes into the opponent's deck, to be immediately summoned when drawn,
hitting the opponent for 1000 points of direct damage and turning all
his monsters into insects as long as it stays on the field. It's a nasty
little card.) Joey is not off to a good start.

Joey plays another face-down defense monster, claiming he was just
getting warmed up, and now he's really got a strategy in mind. Mako
responds by playing a card face down.

Joey starts to draw a card with another display of fancy footwork,
but Mako tells him to just get on with it, nearly causing him to lose
his balance. He's just trying to give the crowd a good show! Then he
sacrifices his face-down monster to summon Garoozis, a beast with an
attack 1800. But Mako activates his trap, Torrential Tribute, which
destroys Garoozis in a flood of holographic water. (The real trap card
destroys all monsters on the field.)

Malik, still on his motorcycle, is keeping tabs on the duel with his
Millennium Rod through the minds of the Rare Hunters in the audience.
He does a wheelie around a corner into an alley, where suddenly he's
faced by Dark Bakura, blocking his way. He stops his bike, taking off
his helmet to show off his pretty blond hair, while telling Bakura he's
in the way. (Japanese Malik asks, "Who are you?") Dark Bakura
pulls open his jacket to display the Millennium Ring, telling Marik
to give him the Millennium Rod and he'll let him pass. (Japanese Bakura
says anyone who tries to stop him will die.)

Marik wants to know why Bakura wants the Millennium Items, and Bakura
explains that once he has all seven, he'll control enough power to rule
the world! (Yeah, that'll make him give it to you.) Marik thinks this
guy has some knowledge of the ancient scriptures, but he doesn't know
everything. The power of the Pharaoh is far stronger than the power
of the seven Millennium Items. He tells Bakura his name is Marik, which
doesn't really interest Bakura (Japanese Bakura also introduces himself),
then says Bakura can have the Millennium Rod if Bakura will do something
for him. (Japanese Malik says he's not interested in the Millennium
Items, but the Pharaoh's life. If Bakura will help him, he'll give him
the Rod when it's all over.) Dark Bakura thinks he can just take the
Millennium Rod by force, but Marik says he knows where several other
Millennium Items are, and Bakura thinks maybe they should work together
after all. They stand in the alley and glow at each other, Bakura with
a blue aura and Marik in purple. (In the Japanese, Bakura challenges
Malik to fight him for the Items, Millennium Rod against Millennium
Ring, which is what all the glowing is about.)

Back at Ocean World, the crowd cheers as Mako attacks Joey's life points
directly with his Flying Fish. Joey's down to 3200. Mako plays a card
face down and ends his turn, bragging about the power of his sea deck.
(In the Japanese, Kajiki tells Jounouchi he's disappointed in him. He
thinks Jounouchi isn't focused on the duel.) He goes on to recall how
he's searched for his father for years, using nothing but a small wooden
fishing boat, becoming stronger every time he battles the ocean waters.
No matter how difficult the struggle, he's vowed never to stop searching
until he finds him, and he faces his dueling opponents with the same
determination, fighting every duel in honor of his father. (In the Japanese,
Kajiki says he always does his best no matter what. "If you aren't
focused, one day you'll fall into the big fish's belly." He says
the ocean is waiting to battle with him one day.)

Joey responds that he fights for his little sister, Serenity, and he
shows no mercy either! (Japanese Jounouchi thinks of his own "ocean":
Yugi! He tells Kajiki that he also has a rival he wishes to fight with.
An image of Yugi looking over his shoulder at Jounouchi is snipped from
the US version.)

Mako draws, and sacrifices Flying Fish to summon the 2400-attack Amphibian
Beast, using it to attack Joey's Alligator Sword. But Joey activates
the trap card, Fairy Box, which hides his Alligator Sword in a box full
of holes, so that the Amphibian Beast can't tell which hole it will
pop out of next!

Then Mako plays the field magic card, Umi, which covers the playing
field with water, forcing Alligator Sword to come up for air. But before
Amphibian Beast can destroy it, Joey activates his other trap card,
Skull Dice. He rolls a four, which divides Amphibian Beast's attack
by four, to 650, allowing Alligator Sword to destroy it. Mako's life
points are down to 3300, nearly even with Joey's. Mako and Joey compliment
each other on their moves.

But the duel is far from over! Mako thinks that the sea hides many
powerful and dangerous creatures, and he has a secret weapon guaranteed
to destroy his opponent!

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